CHELSEA MARIE ROBINSON
E-mail: cmrobins@ucla.edu; chelsea.m.robinson@jpl.nasa.gov

EDUCATION

M.A. Geography, UCLA, Winter 2012
B.A. Geography/ Environmental Studies, UCLA 2009
Minor in Conservation Biology

SUBFIELDS

Forests, Remote Sensing, Biogeography

RESEARCH

I am interested in using active remote sensing to study forest aboveground carbon storage (biomass), distribution, diversity, and forest structure. My MA research utilized radar data to estimate aboveground forest biomass (AGB) in the state of Maine. The aim was to develop algorithms that correlate radar backscatter values with AGB, that can then be extrapolated over the state. My current research towards my Ph.D. concerns an altitudinal gradient in Costa Rica's Braulio Carrillo National Park. I am assessing drivers of tree diversity and forest structure along this gradient using lidar and radar data. I am assessing forest structure and seeing the feasibility of relating remotely sensed structural information to alpha diversity in neotropical montane rainforests. In doing so, it will be possible to effectively map diversity and carbon sequestration across the region with the available remote sensing data.

PUBLICATIONS

Robinson, C.; Saatchi, S.; Neumann, M.; Gillespie, T. Impacts of Spatial Variability on Aboveground Biomass Estimation from L-Band Radar in a Temperate Forest. Remote Sens. 2013, 5, 1001-1023.

Meyer, V., Saatchi, S. S., Chave, J., Dalling, J., Bohlman, S., Fricker, G. A., Robinson, C., and Neumann, M.: Detecting tropical forest biomass dynamics from repeated airborne Lidar measurements, Biogeosciences Discuss., 10, 1957-1992, doi:10.5194/bgd-10-1957-2013, 2013.

GRANTS AND AWARDS

2012-2013 Graduate Research Mentorship Program
2009 - Undergraduate Departmental Highest Honors in UCLA Geography Department
2008- UCLA Undergraduate Research Scholar

ADVISORS

Sassan Saatchi (NASA's JPL/ UCLA IoES)
Tom Gillespie (UCLA Geography department)

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Ecological Society of America (ESA) 2012: Portland, Oregon; "Assessment of Variations in Taxonomic Diversity and Forest Structure Along an Altitudinal Gradient in Tropical Montane Forest of Costa Rica."

EcoSummit 2012: Columbus, Ohio; "Spatial Variability of Aboveground Biomass Estimation in Maine Using UAVSAR L-Band Radar."

American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2012: San Francisco, California; "Assessment of Taxonomic Diversity, Topography, and Forest Structure Along an Elevational Gradient in Tropical Montane Rainforest of Costa Rica."